


The Spring Visit

by AlexSimon



Category: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell & Related Fandoms, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (TV), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Genre: F/M, Loss of Virginity, Platonic Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSimon/pseuds/AlexSimon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone on the kink meme wanted these two losing their virginities to each other.  I thought it was interesting even though they are not a pairing I endorse and had to make it happen within my headcannnons for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Spring Visit

Mr Segundus had hoped to find his friend Lady Pole well and happy some six weeks after being released from her enchantment and restored fully to her life in England. 

Instead, despite the fact that he had written in advance of his visit and received assurances that he was welcome, he found that Lady Pole had confined herself to her rooms and that Sir Walter had been called away on business the evening before. 

Mr Segundus, stood soaked and dropping rain onto the floor and heard the news from the maid who delivered it. He did not mean to be annoyed, but the weather had turned cold and he had come through the worst rain storm of the spring to London and now was told that he would be not be seen. 

"She is sorry, sir. She hopes you are not too put out." 

Mr Segundus sighed, now feeling guilty as he watched the worried face of the young girl in front of him and thought of poor Lady Pole feeling unwell.

"No, of course," he said. "It cannot be helped. Please, ask her if I may come tomorrow to see if she is well." 

The maid went back upstairs. Mr Segundus waited, still in his very wet clothes, until the girl came back down. 

"I have told her that you're soaked through, sir, and shivering. She says you must be fed and and warmed and given clothes to borrow." 

"Well. That is kind. I hope I can accept without being too forward. I am very wet." 

"Sir. She also says that you must stay the night. It is too much to go back out and she is very sorry to be unwell at your visit." 

Mr Segundus considered the offer. Under normal circumstances, this would all be too much, but today, he was exhausted and shivering and very ready to be indoors for the duration of the day. 

"Please extend my gratitude to Lady Pole. I would be happy to stay." 

The maid nodded and went for a final talk with her mistress and soon returned to show Mr Segundus to a spare room. Clothes were brought and he changed and was then offered tea and use of whatever books or newspapers in the house he would like to amuse himself until dinner. 

He was soon warm and comfortable again, and fretting about the absent Lady Pole. 

Dinner was served at half seven, and he ate alone. 

Mr Segundus was very tired from his travels and after eating his meal and thanking everyone who brought him food and wine as he sat by himself at the large table, he went back to the room that had been prepared for him. A sleeping shirt was laid out on the bed, which he changed into. 

Within seconds of being in the soft bed, he was asleep. 

This did not last long, for he was, within the hour, woken by a very familiar set of footsteps in the hallway. 

Often when Lady Pole was in his care, she would wake frightened in the early morning and wander the large, empty house. Mr Segundus had learned to listen for her steps and would go out to her when he heard to ensure that she was well. Eventually, she became comfortable enough with him to come to his room herself. He would walk her back to her room, make her tea, read to her, or whatever she needed. 

Mr Segundus was sure that it was she outside his room and he sat up in bed. As he did so, there was a small knock at his door. 

"Mr Segundus?" came a quiet voice from outside. 

He went to the door and opened it. Lady Pole was standing there in her sleeping gown, her long hair loose and falling around her. 

"Lady Pole!" said Mr Segundus. He forgot himself for a moment and embraced her. When he pulled away quickly, both were blushing. 

"I came to apologize," she said. "For my bad behavior today. I should have joined you."

"That could have waited until the morning," said Mr Segundus. 

"I couldn't sleep," she said. "I was very lonely and I wondered..." 

"Yes? Please, let me know what I can do."

"Would you read to me again, Mr Segundus?"

He smiled. 

"Of course," he said.

He walked from his room and closed the door behind him. He was suddenly aware that things were very different now. When he cared for her, it was expected that he should do these things. Now he was with a married woman in her own home and the two of them quite alone and barely dressed.

"Mr Segundus?" asked Lady Pole.

"I am sorry. It's only...Lady Pole. Is this correct? We are both..." 

He motioned to their bedclothes, his cheeks red with blush. 

"I am in my own home, Mr Segundus. I will do as I please. Come, there is a book in my room I have been reading." 

She walked away and he stalled for a moment, but soon followed.

Lady Pole's room in her home was large and comfortable. She had an expansive bed, which she sat on. Mr Segundus found a chair near the window that he pulled up.  
Lady Pole lay down and Mr Segundus pulled the covers over her and then reached for the novel she had set on her side table. 

"Miss Austen, I see," said Mr Segundus. "I've heard she is excellent. Are you enjoying the novel?" 

"Not especially," said Lady Pole. 

Mr Segundus looked up from the cover of the book. 

"Lady Pole..." he sighed. "I had hoped to find you in high spirits, but now I'm concerned that breaking your enchantment has done little for you. What is wrong?"

"Nothing. Mr Segundus," she said quietly. "Please. I am very happy to have my friend back. I would like to hear you read." 

She pulled the duvet to her chin and closed her eyes. 

It was easy to slip back into old roles and Mr Segundus forgot entirely for a moment that they were far from Starecross. When he looked up after a quarter hour of reading, Lady Pole was breathing evenly. 

How curious, he thought, that is was so easy to forget myself for a while, until I looked up at and saw her in a different bed, in a different room.  
He put the book down on the side table where he had found it and stood to leave. 

When he did so, Emma Pole's eyes opened again. She looked at him for some time and he looked back. 

"Please," she said. "Sit with me." 

She indicated a space on the edge of the bed. 

"Lady Pole, I couldn't." 

"John Segundus, we are friends." 

"We are. But friends...friends are not often in each other's bedrooms so late." 

"I do not care. People have already said many things about me. I shoot men in the streets, I am sent to a madhouse, I am enchanted. One more rumor cannot hurt me." 

Her long hair had swung in front of her face but it was east to see the crestfallen look she wore. Mr Segundus slowly approached the bed and sat next to her. 

"Lady Pole..." he said again. 

"Emma," she whispered. "No one ever calls me Emma. Can you please, if I ask, use my Christian name?" 

"Why. Yes. I-"

John Segundus felt her hand on his and almost jumped away in surprise, but found that he was comforted by the touch and stayed with his hand in hers. 

"You are not well," he said. 

"I am in perfect health, Mr Segundus. But I am lonely."

"You may call me John if I am to call you Emma." 

"John. I am lonely. I had once thought that I could love my husband. I later thought that I could forgive him. I had thought that I could live a life like so many other women's. But, John. I am not like other women, I think." 

The hand holding his squeezed tighter and he squeezed back. 

"I believe I understand you." 

"I have thought...perhaps. We have the same secret, you and I?" 

He nodded. In his chest his heart was beating as quickly as it ever had. That nod was, he thought, among the most dangerous things he had ever done.

"I have been in love for some time with someone and unable to tell him." 

"Oh, John." 

John and Emma continued to hold hands as John Segundus began to cry softly, feeling suddenly unable to control the many emotions he normally had to conceal.

"I understand, Emma. Feeling alone. A cold bed. A life of celibacy. It is a burden." 

Emma Pole reached up and with the sleeve of her nightgown, wiped some tears from her friends face. She paused after, looking into his kind face, into the eyes that had been a source of security in her worst times. 

And then, they kissed. Emma Pole reached up and drew the man on her bad as close she could and she felt his arms wrap around her, his hands in her hair. 

It was a long kiss, and John Segundus was the first to pull away. He stood quickly, shaking his head at himself. 

"Emma. Forgive me. Oh, what have I done?" 

"It was not you. It was not only you." 

"I will leave you now."

He turned from her and was stopped by the sound of his name and a plea so heartbroken that he knew he would be cruel to ignore her.

"I cannot explain it," she said when he was turned to look at her again. "I have never wanted a man, and yet, I want you. Tonight. Tonight, I want you. I want not to be alone. Do you want the same?" 

He paused for a long time, watching the woman in the bed, the beautiful young woman who was telling him that she would have him. 

"John, do you want the same?" she asked again.

In response, he walked to the bed and took her in his arms. 

He could not explain either. For years, he had known he was different. He had never felt the call of woman's beauty or body until this night. Perhaps it was years of being alone, the weight of the last several weeks, the safety he felt in the presence of his friend. But he kissed Emma Pole and his blood warmed at the touch of her lips and the the feeling of her soft hair.

Emma Pole leaned back on the bed as John Segundus kissed her and pulled her on top of him. Her nightgown rode up as did his and their legs touched. Breathing heavily, John Segundus reached up to the hem of of her nightgown but stopped. 

"May I?" 

She nodded and he kissed her again, reaching into her nightgown up to her chest where he took a small breast into his hand. His breath caught as did hers as he massaged it.  
Underneath him, Emma Pole whispered his own name as no one ever had and it was sweet to his ears. 

He pulled up the dress all the way and moved his mouth to the breasts he had been fondling with his hands and kissed them a few times in experimentation. Emma's body responded and arched toward him. He continued, taking a nipple in his mouth as she called out for him not to stop. Her own hands were knotted in his hair, pulling in a sensation he had not known he could enjoy so much. His body was overcome with want and he rubbed her and kissed her and thrilled at each yank of his hair as she responded to what he was doing.

Gasping, he ceased for a moment and rested his forehead between her breasts. 

He could hear her heart pounding underneath him. 

"You would continue?" she asked. He looked up and nodded, cursing himself for what he was sure was a horrible mistake. 

He sat up and bit and moved to remove her nightgown from her completely, pulling it over her head. He stared at her naked body, which showed marks from his intense kisses. 

"You stare," she said. 

He blushed and looked away. 

"Emma. I am sure, given what I have told you tonight..."

"You have never seen a woman?" 

He shook his head. 

"I have never seen anyone." 

There was quiet in the large bedroom and Emma Wintertowne took in a large breath. 

"John. Neither have I." 

"But, Emma. I don't understand." 

"I never wanted my husband's touch, nor any man's. I was willing to go along on our wedding night, as I knew I should, but he was scared of me, of my coming back from the dead only days before. He would't touch me. We have not even considered it since I came home." 

She paused, watching John Segundus, whose hair was pushed back and lips red. 

"John. I would like to see you." She moved towards him and pulled his sleeping shirt over his head. He was wearing nothing underneath and embarrassed at his hard member standing firm between his legs. 

"Is this what a man looks like at attention?" she asked. 

"I can only answer that it is what I look like." 

"What, I mean, John... May I touch you there?" 

His whole body went red as he nodded. She put a small hand on him and his whole body jumped with pleasure as her hand wrapped around. 

"Oh!" He called out and realized that that had both said it at the same time. Emma was looking at him, studying his hardness in her hand.

"Is it pleasurable?" she asked. 

He had no words but managed a nod as his eyes closed. Emma Pole laid back, her hand still around him, moving her hand in a gentle way along his length. He began to kiss her again, moving his legs on either side of her body and straddling her, pushing into the feeling of himself in her hand until he was suddenly afraid of spending himself should she continue. 

"Please!" he said.

She took her hand off suddenly. 

"Does it hurt?"

"The opposite. I will- I will expend myself!" he sputtered. 

They stopped, taking more looks at each other's bodies. 

"Is there...is there any special thing that women like?" asked John Segundus. "I was led to believe that intercourse was not enjoyable for them in general. That is was painful."  


Emma sat up a little in the bed. John was watching her with an intensity that no one ever had before, his light eyes taking his her body. He could not see it, but he smiling a bit, finally more at ease. 

"Well," she said. "There is a thing I have heard of. I have...I have always been curious. I have thought of it often and wondered..." 

"What is it?"

She could not bring herself to speaking for a moment, thinking of the words she would use. 

"A person. A man, a woman- they may. They may insert their tongue into a woman and use it to pleasure her."

John Segundus' eyebrows raised and his mouth opened in surprise. 

"You would like me to do that to you?"

"Yes. Very much." 

She laid back in the bed and Segundus thought for a moment. He kissed her again on her neck, then on her breasts again, then her stomach. He moved down to her thighs, which he pushed apart and kissed in turn. She was breathing heavily. 

He moved his mouth to the space between her legs, parting her open with. He inserted his tongue and she called out, taking in a surprised but happy breath and then moving into the feeling. He continued, licking her entirety while her hands held him by the hair. It was only when she called for him to stop that he did. They were both panting and the ache between his legs was astounding. Emma Pole was flushed and lying back in front him. John Segundus never thought he would want a woman in this way but tonight, he very much did. 

"Now?" she asked. 

"Yes." 

He moved back to her body and she wrapped an arm around him. With her other hand, she took him and moved him to her entrance. 

With a cry at the feeling of that part of his body being stimulated by her, he slipped as gently as he could inside of her and felt her fingernails in his shoulder as they came together fully. He looked down into her eyes. 

"Are you hurt?"

"No," she breathed. She pushed her hips up and he went further into her and his whole body shuddered at the feeling. 

They began to rock together, Emma wrapping her legs around his as her pleasure increased. 

He did not know how long it was until the feeling came over him, the one that meant he was close. 

His body tensed and he moved faster without meaning too, wanting all of her. He was afraid that his force would hurt her and tried to slow, to be more gentle. His body attempted to betray him each time though and without meaning to, he would again get lost in the feeling of her body and the moment of being with her. 

"John," she said into his ear. 

It was that again. Nothing more that his name, but said in such a way that was so new to him. 

They continued until John jumped a bit as he finished quickly, giving a muffled cry. 

They breathed heavily, still connected. He felt her pull him to him in an embrace. He laid against her and the caught their breaths as he moved to slip out of her. 

"Emma..." he said. "I-have never felt..." 

He felt her hands in his hair as he slowly relaxed his body and rested on top of her. 

"Was it- pleasurable for you?" 

"Yes," she said. 

"Did..do women...?" 

"Do we finish in such a way? Yes. Not exactly as men, but yes." 

"And do you have such a feeling?" 

He looked up at her and frowned. 

"Oh. I understand. I have finished too soon for you to have the same experience." 

"Don't worry, John." 

"No," he said. "Is there...Can you tell me a way?" 

She was quiet for some time, feeling their bare chest pressed together and his breath on her neck. His dark hair had fallen into his face as he looked down at her. She would have said nothing, but her body was greatly affected by the closeness of John Segunds and she craved him still very much in that intimate place he had just been.

"If you- if you touch in that place with you hands, it has the same effect," she said. 

He took his hand put it between her legs, his eyes getting larger as his fingers were introduced into her and she breathed in, moving onto him. 

With her guiding, he found the the place and rubbed as she moved against him, her eyes closed, her arm holing his wrist tightly. 

At her insistence, he put a another finger in. Her rhythm increased and she hand, moving him where she wanted. They stared into each others eyes as she moved and moved until her body gave a happy shudder with his name on his lips. 

He removed his hand, which was wet and sticky and wiped it discreetly on the duvet. She took him into her arms and he curled against her, stroking her hair and nuzzling her neck. He looked up when he felt tears on his face and saw that she was crying. 

"Oh, what is it? Please. I haven't hurt you, have I?"

"I am happy," she said. She kissed his cheek. "I am not alone. I have always felt so safe with you."

"And I with you. But I am now more confused than I have ever been in my life." 

"Maybe. I do not know. Maybe we can be as we are and still enjoy what has happened tonight."

They closed their eyes. And for that night, neither was alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I was really nervous to post this. I hope it turned out alight.  
> I have a very clear idea of these two and their relationship and I have never thought of it as even remotely sexual since I very much imagine them both to be gay, but I was curious to see what would happen if I tried to fill this prompt.  
> Anyway, I hope what I was going for, two friends taking comfort in each other, exploring and finding a moment's happiness with someone they trust, came through.


End file.
